REVIEW: Samsung Galaxy S 2 – The new king of Android?

Not long ago, Samsung was barely a blip in the Android space – back when the smartphone maker gave us devices like the Galaxy and Behold 2, and you could tell that Samsung wasn’t taking Android seriously at the time. However, in early 2010 the Galaxy S was announced, and became an instant hit. Now it’s time for the Galaxy S to take a step down and make way for its successor. The Galaxy S 2 takes everything we loved about the original, brings a slimmer body, comes with a dual-core processor, and is beefed up in almost every way. So, we just had to take the Samsung Galaxy S 2 for a review test drive.

You’re probably wondering if this the new king of Android phones. Read the rest of the review to find out!

The Good

The Bad>

MicroSD card not hot-swappable

The back cover is a very flimsy piece of plastic

No dedicated HDMI port

Back speaker needs to be much louder

Hardware

The Galaxy S 2 is a significant upgrade from its predecessor in almost every way. From its dual-core processor, to its larger, superior display, the GS2 is a stunning device that will go down in Android history.

The processor will vary by region, but both chips are still top-notch. Powered by either the Exynos 1.2GHz CPU, or the NVIDIA Tegra 2, also clocked at the same speed, the Galaxy S 2 will deliver an unrivaled experience whichever handset you get. The only virtual difference between the two is the GPU, and from tests, we’ve noticed that the Exynos CPU lacks certain elements you’d find within Tegra (the shading layer isn’t shown with the Exynos CPU in quadrant). You likely wouldn’t even notice the difference, as they both set benchmark apps on fire.

Featuring Samsung’s new Super AMOLED Plus display, which is also found on the Droid Charge for Verizon, the GS2’s display is crisp and clear. The saturation of colors is beautiful, and performs well in direct sunlight. I found myself forgetting what I was trying to do on the phone because I was lost in the beauty of the screen. While we prefer a 4 inch display for the most part, the thinness of the handset makes the 4.3 inch display feel easier to handle. Speaking of thinness, the Galaxy S 2 is only 8.49mm, but still retains the signature Galaxy S bump on the bottom.

The front of the device is kept rather clean, leaving only the essentials. Aside from the massive display, you’ll find the earpiece at the top, as you’d expect, as well as the 2 megapixel front facing camera, proximity and ambient light sensors at the top, and the Samsung logo right below. Like the original Galaxy S, this unit has no search key at the bottom, which allows for the centered, physical home button, with the capacitive menu and back buttons surrounding it. The clean look is nice, but I do miss the dedicated search button. That said, the buttons may change once the handset lands on US shores, just like the original.

On the left side of the device, you’ll find the volume rocker, which is essentially just one small piece of plastic. It has a nice amount of feedback when pressed and doesn’t protrude out of the handset too much. The bottom is simple, only housing the charging port and the phone mic. We were a little sad to see no dedicated camera button on the right side, as the phone takes some great shots. Instead, you’ll only find the power/lock button on this side, leaving the top clean, where you’ll find the 3.5mm headphone jack and another microphone hole.

We were glad to see the Galaxy S 2 doesn’t ship with a shiny back plate, which caused the original to be a fingerprint magnet and feel cheap in the hand. Samsung chose to use a textured backing, which is still very much a flimsy piece of plastic, but the device still feels like a premium product. The back of the handset houses only the 8 megapixel shooter with a single LED flash, Samsung’s logo, and a small speaker on the bottom right of the hump.

Finally, it’s nice to see a handset that supports WiFi N and can actually take advantage of the 5GHz band. The G2X, iPhone 4, and others that support WiFi N can only use the 2.4GHz band, but Samsung somehow squeezed in the extra radio, and didn’t sacrifice size in doing so. The only other handset I’ve seen that can connect to this band is the myTouch 4G, but we’re sure there’s a few more.

Build Quality/Fit and Finish

While Samsung still went heavy on the plastics when making the Galaxy S 2, it feels nothing like the original, which felt cheap. The heavy use of plastics help the handset stay light, and Samsung gave us the best of both worlds. The handset has a nice weight to it while staying light, and feels solid in the hand. While I still think the Xperia Arc takes the cake as the sexiest Android handset available today, the Galaxy S 2 is a very close second.

The design of the handset keeps is very minimal, which lends to a very sexy look. There’s a dark metal trim around the front of the device, which looks a bit like hematite, and provides a nice contrast without being in your face. This trim is also found around the oblong home button, which is nice, but we would have opted for an LED light behind it for notifications. The textured, plastic back of the handset almost looks like metal upon first glance, and we’re sure this visual trickery was intentional.

Overall, this is easily Samsung’s best designed handset to date, and whipping this bad boy out of your pocket will immediately turn heads.

Software

The Galaxy S 2 features the TouchWiz UI found on all other Galaxy S devices, but comes with a handful of new features that make the experience even better. Samsung introduces new gestures within the software that are helpful, and just plain fun to use.

TouchWiz keeps all the features we love, and adds some new elements that we have yet to see on a shipping Android handset yet. You’ll still be able to pinch the homescreen to reveal all screens, and rearrange them as you normally would with TouchWiz, but Samsung has provided a new way to move icons and widgets around from screen to screen.

Just like you would normally move an application or widgets on the homescreen, you hold down on the object. But instead of having to drag the object from one screen to another, TouchWiz lets the accelerometer do that for you, and all you need to do is tilt the handset in either direct to get to another homescreen. It’s a bit on the sensitive side, but it’s a great feature that we really like.

TouchWiz also offers up many Samsung-made applications like Social, Readers, Game, and Music Hubs, as well as a a nice photo editor and video maker. There are many more custom apps from Samsung pre-installed on the handset, and since they are actually nice and bring some functionality, it’s hard to call these applications bloatware, even if they are. Along with the custom apps, Samsung provides a hefty amount of widgets for you to customize your homescreens with as well.

Vlingo is pre-installed on the Galaxy S 2, and you can access the voice commands menu by pressing the home button twice, no matter what application you’re in. Android has voice actions built-in, but the addition of Vlingo is nice. From the menu, you can activate voice actions by saying, “Hey Galaxy,” and you’ll be asked by a very nice lady what you’d like to do. From there, you can make a call, send a text, get driving directions, or write a memo right with your voice.

We were delighted to see that the Galaxy S 2 ships with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, and while it’s not the latest version of the Gingerbread branch, it’s still a novelty to see a handset ship with this version of the OS right now. Even with TouchWiz covering up most of it, pieces of Gingerbread shine through, making the Android experience much more smooth.

The handset also allows you to take screenshots without rooting the phone or a dedicated application. All you have to do is hold down the home button and press power. The screenshot will be taken, and saved into the ScreenCapture folder in the internal memory.

Benchmarks

We ran Quadrant, Linpack, and Neocore three times each and averaged out the scores, and here are the results.

Quadrant (System Benchmark) 3278

Neocore (Graphics Benchmark) 59.7 FPS (Frames per Second)

Don’t let the graphics benchmark fool you, as the handset itself is locked at 60 frames per second. This is still plenty fast, and we may see that lock get broken after it’s been in the hands of developers for a while.

Web Browser, Multimedia, and Camera

Web Browser

Usually when we review the web browser of Android phones, it’s almost always the same as every other handset out there, with just a couple of tweaks done to the UI. Well, we’re happy to say that the Galaxy S 2 brings a feature that we’ve never seen before. Similar to moving an application or widget on the homescreens, the web browser on the Galaxy S 2 allows you to zoom in or out using a gesture. All you need to do put two fingers on the screen and tilt the handset to make the page zoom in or out. It’s very sensitive, so you need to tilt the handset slowly. Still, we were amazed to see just how smooth it zooms when using this method.

Like all Galaxy S phones, the GS2 has a dedicated browser brightness option, and while we like options, it’s something most people will either forget, or never notice until you hit menu. Samsung also introduced a feature similar to what you’d find in HTC Sense phones, allowing you to access all open webpages by pinching the screen.

There was one issue that stuck out like a sore thumb, though. Flash didn’t work on the handset at all. We tried rebooting the phone and uninstalling the updates to the player, and still received no playback. The handset comes with Flash pre-installed, but we couldn’t get it to work for the life of us.

Multimedia

The Galaxy S 2 is one hell of a multimedia machine, as it offers quite a few options to play, access, and purchase media to your device. Since it supports DLNA with AllShare, you can stream your media to a DLNA compatible devices, and vice versa.

The music player for the Galaxy S 2 is rather standard, with a couple of Samsung tweaks thrown in. Don’t get us wrong, the bundled music player is candy for your eyes, but it could have more functionality. Since this is a DLNA supported device, we were hoping to see something like what HTC has done to its music player, and added a dedicated option for connected media. Then again, you can now download the new Android music player from the Market, so you may not even use Samsung’s pre-installed application.

The back speaker simply needs to be louder. Listening to music isn’t the enjoyable experience we were expecting, and we’re still wondering why Samsung didn’t throw stereo speakers on this handset. Some music and calls had a slight echo to it, which is was pretty disappointing.

Camera

The Galaxy S 2 sports a 8 megapixel camera, megapixel count doesn’t always translate to a good sensor. Luckily, we’ve been pretty impressed with Samsung’s cameras, and despite San Francisco’s bipolar weather, we still managed to get some good shots out of the thing.

The camera software is nice and offers a nice chunk of options for you to play around with. You’ll find your standard color effects, and image quality settings, but you also have options like Outdoor visibility, Anti-Shake, and Blink detection.

After taking a picture, the image will jump off the screen into the bottom right corner. This neat, but ultimately useless animation is very Apple-like, and we’re wondering if Samsung even knows cares that the iPhone maker has taken notice of the UI similarities found in the Galaxy S phones.

partly sunny, default settings.

partly sunny, default settings.

partly sunny, default settings

low light, flash on, default settings

There are only so many Android handsets that can actually record in 1080p HD at the moment, and the Galaxy S 2 records in full HD like a champ. The video comes out very crisp with little to no lag whatsoever, but the extra microphone on the top of the handset picked up a good amount of noise from the wind. Still, we’re glad that the handset can pump out such quality video, as some other phones like the Inspire 4G struggle to record in 720p without showing considerable lag.

Call Quality & Battery Life

Since we’re working with a European phone, we could only use T-Mobile’s 2G network. Calls were decent, but nothing extraordinary, and will likely vary greatly when used on the proper bands.

The Galaxy S 2 sports a 1650 mAh battery inside, and you can certainly tell. You’ll be able to get a day out of the handset easily, and if you’re looking to extend the juice a bit more, you can used the pre-installed task manager if you so choose. Either way, the battery life is impressive, and you won’t be looking for a place to charge the thing 6 hours into your day. Of course, power users out there will probably see a faster battery drain, but you may still be surprised how long it takes to reach for your charger.

Is this the best Android phone around?

Simply put, yes. The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is one stunning piece of hardware that is sure to please anyone who picks it up. We’re usually not a fan of custom user interfaces, but TouchWiz has been greatly improved, and the new gesture features are novel and fun. With a great display and blazing fast processor, this is one of the hottest pieces of hardware that is kept ultra slim and sexy.

The handset isn’t without its flaws, though. The speaker really needs to be louder, and taking off the back of the device makes it seem like it will shatter into little plastic shards. We also wish we would have seen a dedicated HDMI port to the handset, but now we’re just nitpicking. All issues aside, this handset just gained itself the Android crown, and is one of the best experiences we’ve ever had to date.

While I still love my T-Mobile G2X is every way possible, the Galaxy S 2 makes it look like a chunky looking handset. Still the G2X feels like a more solid device in the hand, and would likely survive a tumble. We’re not sure if the Galaxy S 2 would be able to endure a drop on a hard floor, but we’re also not looking to scuff up the sexy handset to find out.

Samsung has seriously stepped up its game with the Galaxy S 2, and is making it known that its not just gunning for Apple. It’s gunning for the world. There’s still plenty of competition coming its way, and soon the handset may have it’s crown snatched away. However, as of right now the Galaxy S 2 is probably the best Android handset to ever exist, period.

Sharing multimedia over the Wi-Fi network, so your TV can play locally-stored or streaming video from your phone.

http://www.tehdik.com tehdik

DLNA? Whoa that’s cool.

Anonymous

Looks incredible

Anonymous

I’m not sure having no deciated HDMI port is really a loss when this is one of the first phones to feature HDMI out via MHL technology, thereby negating the need for an extra port on the phone…BTW In regard to not getting Flash working – have you enabled Flash in the browser (Menu button>More>Settings>Enable plug-ins)? Engadget missed that one!

Rizzy

A dedicated HDMI would require an extra port on the phone. The MHL USB HDMI output is much better as it allows you to charge the phone whilst it is plugged in which can’t be done using standard HDMI

UPDATE…GS2 coming to T-Mobile on October 26th. Same release date as “The Ruby” so you can do a side by side comparison at your favorite T-Mobile shop.

Rizzy

The only genuine bad thing you’ve found is the back cover which allows the phone to be so thin. Micro sd cannot be replaced while phone is on but how often does that need to be changed? The speaker is much louder than the nexus s and galaxy s which alot of people found to be very decent.

http://twitter.com/NuoTang Nuo Tang

Can you do a comparison between the GS 2 vs the Sensation 4G?

Mat

If I have to watch another 10min video or read another article that goes on and on about how this phone is the next best thing since sliced bread but doesn’t mention when this damn thing is coming out I’m going to loose my mind.

Joshua Paul

Same q man. Lol this is exactly how I feel – it’s like telling me a tsunami will be hitting Cali but forgetting to saying when.

Zzxatt

Its out. friend got it tried it out and its a beaut.

Mat

you must not be from north america cuz it aint here yet unless you order it in from the UK.

http://profiles.google.com/jeck7788 Josh Eck

Oh it’s here. My company sells them, and were out of southern California. Very expensive phone, but very slick, and it works on AT&T 3G bands out of the box.

Mat

sorry about the double post … I want this phone …. BAD … and NOW lol

http://profiles.google.com/leaverfast Leaver Fast

Nice review. I guess iPhone5 will top it (because they have to, otherwise Apple could take a serious damage to its image as an “innovator”) but Steve Jobs must be having a BIG headache right now.

corwin1681

Lol, iPhone hasn’t been inovating for years, they are loosing at playing catch up, for last 2 years, what planet do you live on?

Avatar0fan0aaron

there wont be an iphone 5 its just a small upgrade from the iphone 4 its been officialy named the iphone 4.5 yer i know it sounds like a peice of crap

http://twitter.com/atoarkhurst ato kwamina

ADOBE flash works just fine. all you have to do is enable it in the browser settings

Anonymous

Tried that. Didn’t work. We’ve taken an Android phone for a spin before. Not sure what the issue was.

corwin1681

TouchWiz is a deal breaker, if it was clean android, I would probably get it.

corwin1681

TouchWiz is a deal breaker, if it was clean android, I would probably get it.

Bti Flare2

Looking at this review and phone…. its like looking at my samsung captivate but with no flash on camara!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1316496828 Dillon Herrero

aww you guys made my Atrix sad

http://twitter.com/nir_pan Niraj Pandey

I just had this device. I never have used any smartphone but had been using the older model and then the newer model of ipod touch and I was worried my user experience might have been too attached to the apple UI. The reason being I tried some smartphones that my friends had and even though I am in the Android Camp, the touch was simply not near to Apple for me. But the moment I got this phone (19/05), it just literally blew me away. It felt much better then any Apple device I have tried and it is indeed blazing fast. And after getting constrained by iOS, the green robot has set me free with its multiple panels, widgets, multi-tasking(in a real sense). Never thought of all company, it would be Samsung. Haven’t checked the speakers but the headphones are so good that my cousin wants to barter it for his ever so loved Apple headphones.

tldr; It is an awesome device; just give it a try and you will know what I mean.

Jbozlaw

I dont see the first question that must be asked of any upcoming Samsung smartphone: Does the GPS work properly, unlike the original Galaxy S fiasco???

lawrence bartholomew

its samsungs iphone,,everything they saw wrong with the iphone they jst fixed it and put a 2 on the back of it…thats good thats great,, the phone can also go 2days witout a charge…mannn from that nasty nexus s to a beautiful GSII what the hell happened???

lawrence bartholomew

its samsungs iphone,,everything they saw wrong with the iphone they jst fixed it and put a 2 on the back of it…thats good thats great,, the phone can also go 2days witout a charge…mannn from that nasty nexus s to a beautiful GSII what the hell happened???

lawrence bartholomew

its samsungs iphone,,everything they saw wrong with the iphone they jst fixed it and put a 2 on the back of it…thats good thats great,, the phone can also go 2days witout a charge…mannn from that nasty nexus s to a beautiful GSII what the hell happened???

Liam

Nexus s is nicely made. I’ve had mine since release and it looks basically new.

Anonymous

Samsung makes great phones, but the Nexus S feels downright cheap. No comparison to the GS2. If the Nexus S didn’t have such a cheap-feeling back side I’d probably grab one.

Anonymous

The Galaxy S2 has a smooth, black, monolithic appearance, with the two touch-sensitive buttons dematerialization into the black of the display if they’re inactive. The square-ish, shallow home button is the only interruption on the phone’s smooth face.

chelle70

i have used nearly 500 meg of internet in 3 week and all i use the net for is to check my email and facebook, i have downloaded 4 thing ( games ) and it is no possible to use that much so i am told, how can i turn the net off perm on this and turn it on when i need it,?

also what does the ie or e on the top of the from screen mean??any help is really needed, thank x

Nannyonabike

Hold thepower button in and you will see options ie: silent mode ..data network mode…flight mode..power off. Just click on the data network mode to turn it off or on.

Nannyonabike

Hold thepower button in and you will see options ie: silent mode ..data network mode…flight mode..power off. Just click on the data network mode to turn it off or on.

Anonymous

If you search youtube, you’ll find a video showing how flexible the back cover is. This is not a con, rather it’s a major advantage to reduce weight. Just because it’s not metal doesn’t mean anything. Heck that would make it worse for reception. Look for it, then you should consider editing your review about the back cover.

Jack

I don’t like how sanding stole the camera app from the iPhone. Can’t they be a little more creative? They even stole the notification sounds from the IPhone.

Strike

Nope.

This is how Samsung rolls. Copy everything from iOS and claim they developed it themselves.

Jason

Looks like someone’s an Apple fanboy; I can tell because the autocorrect changed “samsung” to “sanding”

Galaxy2InABlackhole

ROFLMAO (re: sanding vs Samsung)!

ur mom

I’m do for an upgrade in Dec. so i will be getting this phone and putting my thunderbolt up on eBay, first thing I’m going to do is root this thing and stick a custom ROM on it and get rid of the touch-wiz stuff. as for you apple fan-boys…steve jobs is a lame tool and the “iphlop” is dead, has been beaten out 100 time over already so get over it, return your rented equipment and get a real phone with a real OS.

Istariphoenix

FREAKING.SICK.I.WANT.THIS.NOW. Goodbye my former beloved iPhone 4…

Haa haaah

wuuuuuuuhhh… iFans’s angerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Sharkhark

you lost me when finally getting down to the unboxing….i kid not..you stop the phone review to describe the texture..of..no kidding…the box? you actually take the time to waste to describe the leathery texture of the box?????????????? WTF? i quickly stopped watching…if someone is going to waste my time with useless stuf..the rest may be good or may not..but with so many reviews on the web i am not taking my chance on ten minutes of my life if you waste the first part reviewing a cardboard box………….

Drywallpimpn

u fukn idiot shut ur fn mouth and leave phones like this to us who really want irt

Not sure if that video is actually helping your case, as it shows that the battery cover is basically unbreakable.

Theplace2be

doesn’t run flash sites????? deal breaker!

Anonymous

we never said it couldn’t. In fact, we found out that it was a simple box we needed to check in the settings just days after we sent it back.

kex940

wait… so you can watch flash sites on GS2, but you need to check something in the settings?

GalaxyInABlackhole

Agreed….no FLASH for spending serious CASH, is indeed a DEAL B-R-E-A-K-E-R. One of the many reasons (and FLASH is near the top) I was considering the G2S was for FLASH. Seriously ready to retire my Apple 4G, but it looks like I will be a holdout (just for a few more weeks until the rollout of other new mobile units by the competition). Sorry KOREA but it seems as though the GS2 is not ready for PRIMETIME.

Marsh

Mine’s coming in the mail in a day or two, and I’m gonna keep your excellent review handy! As a 50 year guy into tech since he was 11 years old (vic 20, etc) and still going strong, I’m going to REALLY have a technogasm! Oops, TMI heh heh thanks for this great and detailed interview, it confirms my smart move on getting it PS: Android rocks, Apple… well, it’s just not an S II

Marsh

Mine’s coming in the mail in a day or two, and I’m gonna keep your excellent review handy! As a 50 year guy into tech since he was 11 years old (vic 20, etc) and still going strong, I’m going to REALLY have a technogasm! Oops, TMI heh heh thanks for this great and detailed interview, it confirms my smart move on getting it PS: Android rocks, Apple… well, it’s just not an S II

Marsh

To the reviewer…. Don’t listen to negativity, your article has great style and your data is accurate, once again, thanks again. I appreciate it.

Marsh

To the reviewer…. Don’t listen to negativity, your article has great style and your data is accurate, once again, thanks again. I appreciate it.

Chuan1603

this phone is nice..but why no chinese message type..?when will came for type message for chinese..please..

http://www.facebook.com/watcherjohn John Kirkpatrick

Does the King have a brother with a keyboard?

Anonymous

The U.S. versions should

G Hoof23

When is this phone being released to US/Verizon

taylor

Is it 4G LTE?

Anonymous

I guess you havent used a Sensation.

Anonymous

Yes I have. Pass.

TY4321

Samsung makes nice phones as long as you don’t need to use the phone. Phone signal is horrible.

Gs2user

It looks like no one confirmed that GS2 can support flash sites. I’ve been using GS2 for months and yes it can view flash sites, play video and games on site as long as it is supported by adobe flash player. (note that it can also play some non-adobe flash player movies).

It looks like no one confirmed that GS2 can support flash sites. I’ve been using GS2 for months and yes it can view flash sites, play video and games on site as long as it is supported by adobe flash player. (note that it can also play some non-adobe flash player movies).

dear blake…i found your piece to be very helpful and informative. i am a new user to this type of technology and i have a gs2 as my very first smartphone. i love it. i want to say that i really like the feature when taking a picture that it falls down to the right. it seems to come in handy when everyone wants to “see” the pic right away…and u can delete it right there and then. also, i have dropped it 3 times now, even to the point where the case has come away from the phone and it has survived…4 which i am thankful :). thanks so much for your input…

Mohammed

I need the software to interface my Samsung Galaxy s ii Mobile with my laptop , But i dont have the Installation CD, Can anybody give me the source form where i can get the software ?

Feline3

I am new to smartphones & have a samsung galaxy gs2 I don’t use most features, just calls, email, sms and the alarm clock. The battery lasts less than 24 hours how can I delete unwanted features and extend battery life?

Amphibious

“From the menu, you can activate voice actions….” Galaxy II does not have voice tags. It does not integrate with my Ford Falxon XR6 bluetooth except for incoming calls. I don’t want to have to take the damned ‘phone out of my pocket and screw around with menus so as to be able to initiate a call. Vlingo is just as useless as the native Samsung application. So I ask “what is the use of the voice features on this expensive gadget if there are no voice tags?